Mending
by WonderfulWorldofRi
Summary: A friend of Tezuka has a murky past. Can he find closure for said friend and his mother? Or will his friend forever be stuck in a body that he loathes? Tezuka x OC No romance
1. Chapter 0

Prince of Tennis and its characters are the sole property of Takeshi Konomi. The only character that belongs to me is Doumeki/Ayame. 

Chapter 0: My name is Doumeki

"Ayame Ichihara," said the young English teacher in a low baritone; there was no answer. "Ms. Ichihara?" He asked again, raising the pitch of his voice.

"I prefer Doumeki," said a small boy with long, silver-blonde hair as he stood up "My name is Doumeki and I'm a boy." Then the class looked at Doumeki, awestruck.

"I apologize Mr. Ichihara," said the teacher, also surprised, Doumeki Ichihara.

Doumeki nodded and sat back down, acknowledging the correction. As class drew on, small conversations started among the students, most of them having to do with Mr. Ichihara. The teacher abruptly stopped a few, but the majority went on until the end of class.

When the students were released, Doumeki was greeted by his stoic childhood friend. The tall, handsome, bespectacled boy with brown hair waited outside the classroom. Some of the classroom conversations continued as the students, many of whom were glad that it was the end of the class for that day, went into the hallway.

"Oh, Tezuka hi!" said Doumeki, his large light blue eyes filled with shock.

"Hello," Tezuka replied, "Are you doing well?"

"Yeah, yeah, it s not like I got hurt or anything today," Doumeki retorted, trying to act tough.

"I'm still concerned," said Tezuka, softly, his face stoic as ever, he obviously heard bits and pieces of the conversations that come out of the room, "I don't want to see you to get hurt again."

Doumeki showed a look of disdain.

"Just...Don't let your guard down, added Tezuka." The two of them walked to the tennis courts that day, the first year s head bowed in sadness, remembering the day Tezuka mentioned.


	2. Chapter 1

**I do not own anything (other th****a****n**** Doumeki/Ayame). All other characters belong to Takeshi Konomi.**  
>I hope that no one is offended. If I offend someone, it is not intentional and I apologize in advance. I really wanted emphasis on what Doumeki has to deal with.<p>

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><p><span>Chapter 1: The flashback<span>

"Come back here! Faggot boy!"

Doumeki was chased by a group of boys.

"Leave me alone," yelled Doumeki, "pick on someone your own size!"

The boys chased Doumeki until they reached the end of a dark alley. One of the boys, a relatively tall blonde with tan skin, held him by his arms while the other two punched and kicked him. Doumeki screamed at the top of his lungs and cried helplessly, running out of breath. As time progressed, his body started to feel as if it were filled with lead—he blacked out.

"What are you all doing," asked an unusually tall boy with brown hair and spectacles, "what had he done to you to deserve this?"

"This fag beat us at tennis," said the boy holding Doumeki's arms as he casually dropped the kid to the ground, "we said we wanted a rematch and he won't cooperate."

"Noted," said Tezuka, "If I were actually angry about losing a match, I would train, and then try to do better the next time."

"Screw you! You have no idea how humiliating it was to lose to this guy," said one of the other boys, a brown-haired boy with freckles.

"So...you feel superior to this young man due to his sexual orientation," replied Tezuka.

"Check 'him' yourself, you'll see what we mean," said the third boy, another blonde with large green eyes and a slightly neotenized face.

The third boy threw Doumeki to Tezuka and the three of them ran off.

"Cowards," whispered Tezuka.

His attention turned to the unconscious Doumeki. Tezuka gingerly laid Doumeki on his back and checked his pulse. "This young man's pulse is weak…I'm surprised he's still alive," Tezuka thought. He called an ambulance and opened Doumeki's shirt to assess the damage and administer resuscitation. Then, noticing the gauze bandages on Doumeki's chest, he removed them. Tezuka was surprised, not of the bruising, but because of the sight of a pair of breasts supported by a lacy bra. "I got careless," thought Tezuka, "I've been calling her a young man all this time." Tezuka blushed slightly, and then started to do CPR. He whispered the number of thrusts and kept a steady pace, and then he gave two breaths. He cracked a couple of ribs.

"Eeeep!" screamed Doumeki, shooting up in shock, "What happened?"

"I ran them off."

"Eh? Who? Oh right, I _was_ getting beat up! Thank you," said Doumeki as he bowed deeply, "I thank you very much."

"You don't have to be that formal. Actually, I would prefer that you sit down, you've suffered horrible injuries—the ambulance should be here soon."

"No!" shouted Doumeki, "I'm not going to the hospital!"

"But, miss, you should—"

"Call me miss again, and I will kick your ass," said Doumeki through gritted teeth, "I don't want to be treated like a girl!"

Tezuka's stoic face broke and turned into one of shock, "but you _are_.".

"Whatever—you're just like those other boys, you don't understand!"

Tezuka had an inquisitive look on his face.

"I fucking hate my body," said Doumeki, "I want to be a boy, like you, but I've always been limited by this body."

"I don't understand…" Tezuka said, moving in closer to Doumeki.

"See?" Doumeki interrupted.

"But," Tezuka continued as an ambulance rounded the corner "I would like to know more."When the ambulance stopped, the EMTs picked up Doumeki. He wanted to put up a fight, but knew that it would anger the boy that saved him. "Thank you," Doumeki whispered, "don't you dare pity me." At this, Tezuka went back to his usual stoic face, still wanting to know Doumeki's thoughts.

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><p>I hope Tezuka was not too OOC...<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis**

**For those following the fic, I'm sorry for the horribly late update. T.T Gommen Nasai.**

A member of Doumeki's family stirs up drama on the court.

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><p>Chapter 2: Back to the Present: But I <strong>LIKE <strong>tennis!

Doumeki was in the boys' tennis club as more of a trainer than a player. He got permission from Ryuzaki Sumire after Tezuka talked to the coach about Doumeki's situation. However, not all the welcomes were warm; and some of the tennis club members' work ethics were sub par.

As per that afternoon's training menu that Doumeki and Inui set up, the half the first years were supposed to run laps. There was one boy who didn't follow suit.

"I heard that Doumeki kid is really a girl, but dresses as a boy for shits and gigs," yelled Horio, an arrogant first year with a unibrow. He said it loud enough for everyone on the courts to hear.

"Horio, be quiet," said his other two friends.

Despite the attempts to silence Horio, Doumeki still heard him. He went straight to Horio and replied through gritted teeth and a wide, fake smile: "yeah, and I hear that Horio kid says he's got two years of tennis experience and ain't got crap to show for it. Do me a favor: mind your own business…and get. to. work."

Horio shrank back with his eyes widened. He became petrified. But when he knew that Doumeki was not within earshot, he mumbled under his breath: "hmph, you aren't so tough." He then went to run the prescribed laps. To the other players, Horio became nothing more than a blur.

Doumeki kept a composition notebook in which he wrote information on members of the tennis team. He looked at Inui's data and augmented it with his own observations. As everyone practiced, he wrote down everything while also keeping a sketchbook to quickly draw any positioning that he found interesting.

Doumeki went up to players at times to fix small problems in posture or give some encouraging words. He played a few practice matches to fill in for others.

"Ayame!" yelled a woman coming up to the tennis court as Doumeki tried to start a serve.

The older woman looked angry and was walking toward Doumeki.

"Mom, it's Doumeki, ok? Doumeki!"

"As long as you are under my roof, you are Ayame. Why are you here?"

"I'm part of the tennis team, mom."

"I said you could join the _girls' _team!"

"I will not join the girls' team—_I _am not a girl,_ Ayame_ is a girl! Why are we having this argument here?"

The two of them stared at each other wildly.

"I draw the line at joining boys' sports teams, and you know it! I wanted you to do ballet, like I did—"

"I'M NOT YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!" interrupted Doumeki, tears welling in his eyes, "and I LIKE tennis! What's wrong with tennis?"

"I hate female athletes," growled his mother.

"I'M A BOY!"

"NO, YOU AREN'T!"

"Stop it! As long as _he_ is with this team," said Coach Ryuzaki "I don't care what his gender at birth was; I will treat him as a boy."

Doumeki's mother calmed down.

"Fine, you can stay on the team, but I want you to keep your hair long. Maybe all the sweating will make you come to your senses."

His mother stomped away, fuming.

The court fell silent and still. Stares of worry fell at Doumeki's back. Practice became solemn.

Doumeki turned around, then yelled "What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

The club members started practice again, scared, quiet.


End file.
